Phagwara, August 14
The Phagwara police foiled an attempt of some miscreants to grab the government land in Santokhpura Mohalla here today.

According to sources, a farm owner sent three trolleys of sand, and two tankers of water in his fields adjoining the government land. It was also reported that he, along with about 100 miscreants armed with sharp-edged weapons, and 12 labourers, in an attempt to grab the government land, started the ground work on the said land. Piara Singh, an owner of the adjoining fields, brought the matter to the notice of the Satnampura police.

Piara Singh alleged that when the police did not turn up despite the complaint, the prominent local leaders were approached.

These leaders tried to contact the Phagwara ASP, but were unsuccessful, he claimed. They then made phone calls to some bureaucrats at Kapurthala, who rang up the Satnampura police station SHO Rajesh Kumar. The SHO reached the spot, and stopped the work on the disputed land after noting down the statements of both parties.

“I have handed over the case to Phagwara SDM Balwinder Singh Dhaliwal, who called both the parties in his office today afternoon,” said the SHO.

The police also recovered one sword and a baseball bat from the fields, but denied any case of assault. 

Jalandhar, August 14
Residents of some villages and workers of the Pendu Mazdoor Union, Punjab, organised a rally in front of the office of the Shahkot SDM here today to lodge their protest against an alleged conspiracy hatched by certain government officials and vested interests to demolish a ‘Dalit Dharamshala’ in Fazalwal village.

Raising slogans against the people allegedly behind the bid to demolish the Dharamshala, the agitated workers of the union demanded that the government officials, who had allegedly connived with certain vested interests in the misadventure should be booked for unleashing atrocities against Dalits.

“We demand that such people be arrested immediately. They are roaming free due to their political clout,” Mr Tarsem Peter, president of the Pendu Mazdoor Union, Punjab, said.

Mr Satpal Sahota, district president of the union, threatened that his organisation would be forced to launch an agitation in case no action was taken against the erring officials.

“We have been votaries of peace and harmony. But we are not going to tolerate the imperialist ways and means being adopted by certain powerful people to suppress the voice of the Dalits,” he said.

He alleged that laws made for the prevention of atrocities against Dalits were being “misutilised” by political parties to garner votes.

“Practically, they don’t stand by Dalits whenever they are subjected to injustice,” Mr Sahota alleged.

Parkash Chand, Surjit Singh, Subedar Amarjit Singh, Sohan Singh, Surinder Kumar were among those who addressed the rally.

Jalandhar, August 14
Irked over the poor power supply in their village, hundreds of residents of Kotli Than Singh today took out a protest march from the village to Shakti Sadan, zonal head office of the Punjab State Electricity Board here today.

The villagers, led by Jaswinder Singh, Parmjit Singh and Balvir Pal, threatened that if uninterrupted power supply was not ensured to their village, they would come to the Shakti Sadan again and disrupt the working there.

The village, according to a memorandum submitted by the residents to PSEB’s Chief Engineer, had deposited lakhs of rupees to avail benefits under the 24-hour power supply scheme.

“But this scheme is nothing but a farce for us, as instead of 24 hours, we are getting electricity for merely three to four hours a day. Is it not contrary to the tall claims of the government, which keeps boasting that it has improved the lot of the people residing in rural areas?” the residents asked in the memorandum.

“Our school-going children are lagging behind in studies. The aged too are suffering due to the lack of adequate power supply,” Mr Kishan Chand, a resident, alleged.

“If the PSEB cannot provide us proper power supply, then for what had we deposited lakhs of rupees under the scheme? Isn’t that a sheer wastage? We are not going it to let it remain like this,” Mr Sukhwinder Singh, another resident, said.

Jalandhar, August 14
Keeping in view the forthcoming Vidhan Sabha elections in Punjab, Jalandhar Deputy Commissioner A. Venu Parsad today apprised leaders and heads of different political parties of the fresh guidelines issued by the Election Commission of India.

The DC said the process for making voter identity cards from Assembly constituencies of Adampur, Jalandhar (Central), Jalandhar (North) and Nakodar, would be carried out between September 6 to 15.

He added that the process would be undertaken in the rest of the six Assembly constituencies in a phased manner.

The political leaders who were present included Mr S.D. Chugh, president of BJP’s district unit, Mr Raj Kumar Gupta, president the Congress’s district unit, Mr Charanjit Singh Channi, SAD (B)’s district president, Mr Ram Sarup Saroa, district president of the BSP, Mr H.S. Minhas from the CPI (M) and Mr Chand Fatehpuri from the CPI.

The DC said Block Level Officers (BLOs) had been asked to ensure that the number of photo identity cards be maximised in all the ten Assembly constituencies of the district.

“They have been asked to report to respective electoral registration officers about voters who have either passed away or shifted out of the constituencies,” he added.

“We appeal to the representatives of the parties to help in the process, so that more voters could be equipped with photo identity cards and ensure 100 per cent disbursal of such cards among voters by the middle of December,” Mr Parsad said.

The DC said that as per the Election Commission guidelines, all political parties should identify and depute booth-level agents to assist the BLOs in their work.

“Such agents can also discuss modalities with the BLOs,” Mr Parsad said.

“Party representatives have been asked to furnish names, telephone numbers and addresses of such agents with the District Election Office and they have also been advised to activate their workers so that maximum number of people come forward to participate in the photo identity card making process. These cards may become a must for all the voters in the future,” he added.

Phagwara, August 14
The Phagwara Welfare Society, Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, comprising NRIs belonging to this area, has raised funds for distributing free books to meritorious and needy students of the local Guru Nanak College.

Mr Malkiat Singh Ragbotra, president, Nagar Council, Phagwara, today handed over sets of books to students of BCA, and Commerce and Arts streams during a function organised in the college.

College Principal Inderjit Singh, who had visited Surrey last year in this regard, disclosed that 32 students were given sets of the latest books of their syllabi.

He added that the society had initially raised Rs 50,000 for the purpose.

Mr T.D. Chawla, secretary, and Mr Gurmit Singh Palahi, director of the College Managing Committee, also addressed the students.